Johor MB spent four hours being briefed at IRDA’s office during his inaugural visit to the statutory body tasked with regulating and developing Iskandar Malaysia

The 4-hour briefing was to bring the Menteri Besar (MB) up to speed with the developments at Iskandar Malaysia. As the MB of the State, Dato’ Osman Sapian is automatically the Co-Chair of IRDA together with the Prime Minister.

Marking his inaugural visit to Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA), Dato’ Osman also launched the Iskandar Malaysia Experiential Centre (IMEx), a one-stop centre that offers information and experience on the initiatives of Iskandar Malaysia as a Smart City.

Other than showcasing the Smart City concept to the MB, IRDA also showcased several initiatives, such as the Iskandar Malaysia Urban Observatory (IMUO), IM Circle of Sustainability, Wealth Sharing and Inclusiveness and their Low Carbon Society Blueprint that has NGOs and schools involved.

“Iskandar Malaysia is the first region to establish the Urban Observatory which will be the centre for data collection and analysis for government, private sector and community use.
“This will help decision-makers to more efficiently and accurately make decisions based on information that is precise, current and in real-time,” explained Dato’ Osman.

“Through the IMUO, IRDA intends to work with other local councils and companies to coordinate important information that would be useful to their planning and decision making process,” he added.

From IRDA’s briefing, Osman revealed that investments into Iskandar Malaysia from domestic and foreign investors have been good.

“From January to June this year alone, RM10.9 billion had been invested into Iskandar Malaysia. While the total cumulative investments from 2006 to June 2018 stand at RM263.95 billion,” he said.

“Based on the investment figures, I am confident that the targeted investments into Iskandar Malaysia of RM383 billion by 2025 will be achieved,” Osman added.

On its own, China tops the list of foreign investors at RM36.4 billion which represents 14% of the total accumulated investments.

ASEAN countries contributed 23.7 billion (9%) and RM13.6 billion (5%) came from the European Union.

Other countries invested RM29.5 billion or 11% while local companies poured in RM160.8 billion or 61% into Iskandar Malaysia’s investment pie.

In terms of sectors, Manufacturing leads the way in the Promoted Sectors followed by Logistics, Tourism, Healthcare, Education, Finance and Creative.

In the category of Other Sectors, Mixed Development tops the list followed by Residential Properties, Industrial Properties, Utilities, Government and Emerging Technologies.